Organic electronic devices such as, for example, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are conventionally produced in the form of an assembly of a plurality of devices on a common substrate. The individual devices are then obtained by dividing up the assembly. Patterned application of the individual layers of the devices, i.e., for instance of electrodes and organic layers, is therefore necessary, for which purpose different masks are conventionally required.
The use of masks is however associated inter alia with the risk of imprecise imaging due to possible vapor creepage under the masks, such that it may be possible, for example, for organic layers to project beyond the surface regions provided therefor. Even slight mask distortions and/or inaccuracies may lead to vapor creepage. In addition, masks are expensive and moreover maintenance-heavy, for example, with regard to particle contamination and scratching. Furthermore, masks have to be aligned with the substrate, wherein the tolerances to be taken into account during this process may restrict design freedom and packing density, i.e., the number of devices on a common substrate and thus the device area per substrate area.
The use of masks may thus lead not only to high costs and handling complexity but also to poor or defective components. For example, organic residues between electrode and conductive track patterns may lead to high intermediate resistances, which may lead to a loss in efficiency and to destruction through local temperature input and/or to a reduction in layer adhesion and to layer delamination. Major effort is required, however, to identify defective devices as being such after manufacture. It is therefore conventionally attempted to carry out complex quality monitoring of the masks and masking processes, in order, for example, to avoid sources of defects such as undulations, distortion or misalignment of the masks, which may inter alia promote vapor creepage underneath them. Use is made, for example, of special mask materials, for example, of Invar, and/or stepped masks. Such measures are complex and costly, however.